261 personnel discharged under DADT

NEWS

by Chuck Colbert

During its final year as federal law and military policy,
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has resulted in the discharge of 261 members
of the armed forces. The Department of Defense numbers for the Army, Navy, Air
Force, and Marines stand at 250, while the Department of Homeland Security,
with authority for the Coast Guard, discharged an additional 11 guardsmen.

News of the latest gay-related discharges, under a nearly
18-year policy that was supposed to allow gays to serve as long as they were not
out, came March 24 from Servicemembers United, a DADT repeal advocacy group
based in Washington, D.C. The organization requested data under the Freedom of
Information Act, which provides for public disclosure of documents and
information controlled by the federal government.

Roughly three-fourths, or 180 of the 250 discharges from the
Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, fell under the category of
"statement," according to a March 4 DADT separations tally provided
by the Defense Manpower Data Center. Another 65 discharges were in the category
of "act," with five discharges classified as "marriage."

The information provided by the Coast Guard to
Servicemembers United did not include classification categories for its
discharge numbers.

Overall, the Army led the way in total number of discharges,
tossing out 93 soldiers. The Air Force discharged 64 airmen, the Navy
booted 54 sailors, and the Corps discharged 39 marines.

Across the four branches, statement discharges accounted for
twice as many as those categorized as act, except for the Army, which reported
four times as many – 74 classified as statement compared to 18
categorized as act.

The 2010 fiscal year time period for the numbers reported
ran from October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010.

"While this latest official discharge number represents
an all-time annual low, it is still unusually high considering that the
secretary of defense issued a directive half-way through the fiscal year to
make it much harder for military units to discharge troops under 'Don't Ask,
Don't Tell,'" said Alexander Nicholson, executive director of
Servicemembers United.

Nicholson was referring to guidelines, issued last March by
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Admiral Mike Mullen, designed to reduce the number of gay discharges.

There were several regulatory policy changes last year, as
debate raged over repealing the anti-gay policy. One raised the rank of
military officer who could initiate investigations and authorize separations to
flag officer – admiral or general. Another change disallowed
"hearsay" and "overheard statements," along with
confidential or privileged information as trigger mechanisms for fact-finding
investigations of suspected violators of the policy. Additionally, a third
party was no longer considered as a "reliable source" of information
for initiating investigations.

The 261 discharges last year are significantly lower than
numbers from previous years. By comparison, 499 members of the armed forces
were discharged under DADT in the 2009 fiscal year, with 715 discharged in 2008
and 696 tossed out in 2007, according to a count by Servicemembers United.
Altogether, 14,316 military personnel have been discharged under the policy,
according to the organization's unofficial count, which included the National
Guard.

And yet, Nicholson said, "Despite this law clearly
being on its deathbed at the time, 261 more careers were terminated and 261
more lives were abruptly turned upside down because of this policy."

Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal
Defense Network, said the findings point to the need to quicken the
implementation of last year's legislation repealing DADT.

"Even one discharge under the discriminatory 'Don't
Ask, Don't Tell' policy is too many," Sarvis said. "These numbers
underscore the need to accelerate the timeline for training and repeal. The
reality is that investigations continue and service members are still in danger
of being discharged. We look forward to certification by Secretary Gates,
Chairman Mullen, and the president as we move toward full repeal. Until we
achieve full equality for all LGBT service members, the job is not done."

During a lame-duck session of Congress last year, a
bipartisan majority of lawmakers voted to repeal DADT and President Barack
Obama signed the legislation into law on December 22.

But before the ban is lifted, Obama, Gates, and Mullen must
certify that openly gay service will not undermine military readiness and
effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention of the armed forces.

The various military branches are currently training their
forces in order to implement the policy change. Gates has said he will not
recommend certification until training for repeal is implemented throughout the
service branches.

After certification, a 60-day congressional review period is
also required before DADT is finally repealed.